Electronic devices, such as mobile communications devices, output alerts or notifications to indicate arrival of incoming electronic communications. These alerts may indicate, for example, arrival of an incoming text message or Email, a request to establish a telephone call, a news update from an information service, an advertisement, and the like. Conventional electronic devices typically support at least one of method or technique to output the notification to the user. Examples of such techniques include visual, aural, and tactile (e.g., haptic technology) output. Thus, an alert indicating the arrival of an incoming text message may generate output of an icon to a display, a beep or other sound to a speaker, and/or a vibration though a haptic system of the electronic device.
It is not uncommon for a user to have access to several different devices configured to receive messages and output alerts. For example, a user could have one or more of a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities (e.g., a “smartphone”), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, an Internet-enabled television (TV), or any other type of device. In many cases, multiple devices are capable of consuming the message.
When a message is received from a communications system, it is not uncommon for the user to receive a separate alert on each of multiple devices. For example, a user may be at home when a new Email message is received. The user's mobile phone may play a sound and display a message, the user's tablet may play a sound, the user's TV may display a message, the user's laptop may display a dialog box and play a sound, and/or the user's Internet-enabled appliance may display a message, play a sound, and/or flash a light. Presenting multiple alerts that are related to the same message can be redundant. In addition, receiving multiple alerts can be a nuisance to the user, especially when the alert is received after the message has been consumed, which may cause confusion.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for suppressing extraneous alerts on multiple devices.